


Rainwater, Sunbeam

by beemotionpicture



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Dark Side Of Dimensions, fic with art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21658528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beemotionpicture/pseuds/beemotionpicture
Summary: It's a bad day, until it's not.In which Seto gets caught in the rain (accidentally on purpose), Yugi hits him in the face with an umbrella (definitelyon purpose), and the weather stays shitty (but they both feel warmer than they should).
Relationships: Kaiba Seto & Mutou Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Mutou Yuugi, Rivalshipping
Comments: 14
Kudos: 99
Collections: Yu-Gi-Oh! It's Time to G-G-G-Gift! [Mini-Exchange]





	Rainwater, Sunbeam

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PinkCrystal_Rose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkCrystal_Rose/gifts).



> Written for the Yugioh Mini Exchange 2019. The prompt was:
> 
> "Bad day made worse by getting caught in the rain. Then someone unexpected helps by giving them a lift." 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

Seto should have just ignored him.

He would've turned away, had Yugi not met his eyes and stuttered to a halt not six feet from him, a look of genuine surprise on his face. Seto, in any other circumstance, would have liked being the one to put it there; it rankled that _this_ —seeing him in such a state—was what caused it, and not him beating Yugi in a duel with his sheer skill. 

He didn't know what Yugi saw in his own expression, but it had been enough to make him falter—at around halfway through a crosswalk, in the pouring rain, seconds away from being run over by some inattentive driver who couldn't be bothered to look up from his phone. 

Fortunately, Yugi still had some sense of self-preservation, which after all these years, one would think should be rather more developed. The sudden blare of a car horn had him hurrying across the road, unmindful of the splash of puddles underneath his feet.

He'd lingered at the corner for too long, and the opportunity to sidestep gracefully had quickly come and gone. Seto blamed his poor reaction time on the rain; being with neither coat nor umbrella in this kind of weather was him practically asking to be rendered useless, if not because of the constant drag of sodden clothes then from the bone-chilling ache that had settled in his limbs. 

In reality, it was far more than that. Seto acknowledged, with a great deal of reluctance, that the trembling in his hands was as much due to exhaustion as it was the cold. That the fog in his mind had been caused by the habit of going countless hours without sleep.

"Kaiba-kun!" There he was.

After sparing him a brief glance, Seto resumed walking, nothing more than a last minute attempt at leaving him behind. Soon it became apparent that Yugi wasn't going to quit, anyway.

"Kaiba-kun," Yugi called out to him again, slightly out of breath. He was having a hard time, lugging around a bicycle with one hand and keeping an umbrella overhead with the other, but like hell Seto was going to help.

Seto gave him a glare for good measure.

Yugi just looked baffled. Once he'd gotten a good rhythm and fallen into step, he frowned seeing Seto up close. "You're shivering."

Seto resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Am I?" He gave Yugi a scathing look, not pausing in his stride. " _I hadn't noticed._ "

Yugi ignored the barb, and fixed him with a sharp stare instead. 

Against his will, Seto found himself stopping.

"Just how long have you been out here?" Yugi asked, eyes narrowed and voice low—and in that moment sounding so much like Atem.

That look had always grated on Seto, that and the fact that Atem had always acted like he could see right through him. Seto felt a sneer curl at the edge of his lips, something in him about to _snap_ —

But then the look softened, and it was Yugi standing in front of him again. 

Seto had to force himself to breathe.

Thankfully those eyes left him as Yugi scanned the area, looking less and less pleased at whatever he saw. He bit his lip, turned back to Seto, and far too gently he asked, "…are you waiting for Isono-san to pick you up?"

Even as he said it, he didn't sound too convinced.

Yugi stood there with complete and utter concern—for Seto, who certainly wasn't inviting it. That was just who they were.

He remained quiet. Yugi didn't push.

The rush hour crowd had thinned around them, but Seto was only now noticing they were alone. He let out a brief exhale, tired beyond reason—and decided he was done. Without looking at Yugi, he reached for his phone, planning on calling the car over.

He reached for his phone—

He reached for his phone, which wasn't there.

Seto blinked.

There was a pause.

... _obviously_ his phone wasn't going to be there. Because it was in his _coat._ The coat which _he currently wasn't wearing_.

Seto: 1) forced his hand stiffly down to his side, 2) raised it back a moment later to pinch the bridge of his nose, and 3) resisted the urge to scream in frustration.

At his side, Yugi giggled.

It wasn't easy to embarrass Seto, but this certainly came close. He bristled, turning to Yugi with a glare.

But he just shook his head, a smile on his lips. Yugi shifted on his feet, rearranging his grip on the bicycle—

—and without blinking, extended his umbrella to shield Seto from the rain.

It was quiet, save for the distant noise of passing traffic and the lulling sound of rainfall on the pavement.

They must have made quite a sight: Seto staring at him, absolutely drenched and skin almost translucent from the cold; Yugi—on his tiptoes, because that was the only way he could reach—smiling as he was thoroughly soaked himself.

"Sorry. I probably should have done this sooner, huh," Yugi said with warmth in his voice. "And I wasn't laughing at you, Kaiba-kun."

 _Then what exactly were you laughing at._ Seto sniffed, looking at Yugi with contempt. "Fine." 

"I wasn't!" There he was, laughing again. "Really!"

Seto's eyes narrowed further.

After giving a few more chuckles, Yugi finally stopped. He kept smiling, but Seto found that he didn't mind all that much. 

Somehow, the tension between them had dissipated. Seto rolled his eyes but it was mostly for show.

"This is pointless." He jerked his chin upwards. "I'm already soaked."

"So you don't want to share an umbrella?"

A snort. "No."

"You don't have to be a couple to share umbrellas, you know."

Gritted teeth. "Tch."

"Friends can share an umbrella, too."

Seto raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that what you think we are? _Friends_?"

Yugi just hummed. He kicked out the stand on his bike, jostling the umbrella in his hand. The wire hit Seto in the face. 

He grunted.

"Sorry," Yugi said after Seto leveled another glare at him. Lips twitching, he continued, "You're very tall, you know."

Seto scoffed. "No, you're just short."

"No, no," Yugi shook his head at him, insistent. "I'm the perfect size."

"Mokuba's taller than you now."

Yugi's smile widened. "Yeah? Hm, I wonder if he'll grow taller than you." The rain hadn't stopped, but he withdrew his hand anyway, closing the umbrella and placing it in the basket of his bike. He shrugged at Seto's look. "Well, we're both wet, anyway." 

"Ridiculous."

Yugi didn't respond, eyes roaming Seto's face for the second time that day. Satisfied at whatever he saw, he nodded, tilting his head. There was a different smile tugging at his lips, and a gleam in his eyes Seto didn't trust. Gesturing at his bike, he asked innocently, "Want me to give you a ride home?" 

Seto didn't budge, completely unimpressed.

"Just figured I'd ask."

It was strange, but—when Yugi started walking again, Seto couldn't help but follow.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm glad to finally contribute to this fandom!
> 
> Intended to have multiple chapters, but works as a standalone. This one got away from me :)
> 
> You can find a high-res version of the artwork on my [blog](https://beemotionpicture.tumblr.com/post/189619351927/art-for-rainwater-sunbeam-my-fic-for-the-yugioh).


End file.
